After traveling the country and eating hundreds of meals in search of excellence, F&W editors honor the year’s 10 most amazing dishes and congratulate the growing number of casual restaurants with outstanding food.

New York chef Fabio Trabocchi grew up humbly in Italy, yet he and his family always ate extremely well at Christmas. Today he makes many of the same marvelous holiday dishes, including a succulent pork rib roast and a creamy lasagna.

The New Green Cafes Florists and garden shops across the country are becoming neighborhood hangouts that serve single-origin coffees, microbrews, small-batch bourbons, homemade pies and even full-fledged, local-minded meals.

Best Places to Buy Older Vintages Finding well-aged, properly-stored wines at sane prices is a difficult task. Thankfully, some retailers make it easy. These five shops offer real gems.

Christmas Cookies from Baking's Biggest Talents Inventing a truly great cookie requires a kind of genius. The men and women on below all have that mega-talent, and each has a terrific new cookbook as well. They share some of their best Christmas cookies with Food & Wine.

A Guide to Buying Well-Aged Wine Only a few wines benefit from aging, but some of them are relatively affordable and sold ready to drink. Peter Hellman offers a guide to what to buy, and where.

Instant Kitchen Makeover For anyone upgrading a kitchen on a budget, designer Jeffrey Alan Marks tells how to make small changes with a big impact.